the team

emma baiada - co-director, producer, co-cinematographer, co-editor

emma is an observational filmmaker who is interested in the stories of those who exist on the fringes of mainstream society. her work has been supported by california humanities and doc nyc, and screened at the slamdance film festival, mimesis documentary festival, san francisco documentary festival, buffalo international film festival, sun valley film festival, philadelphia film festival, emergence la, and more. her most recent short, “old young,” is available online via nobudge and the slamdance channel. she worked for many years as a producer at academy award-winning tremolo productions on projects including “won’t you be my neighbor?” (focus features), grammy-nominated “shangri-la”(showtime), and “the 12th victim” (showtime). she currently lives and works in the hudson valley, new york.

nicolas snyder - co-director, co-cinematographer, composer

nicolas is a film composer, filmmaker, and sound artist. he has composed music for netflix's “ugly delicious,” showtime’s “shangri-la,” fx’s “cake,” kristofski’s “skin,” michel gondry's fed-ex spot “dreams,” an upcoming animated series for hbo, and more. his most recent work as a cinematographer, “old young,” premiered at the slamdance film festival in january 2020 and had its online premiere on nobudge. he hails from rural western pennsylvania and lives in los angeles.

will garofalo - co-editor

will is a los angeles-based documentary filmmaker and editor. his editing work has been featured in showtime's "wu-tang clan: of mics and men," hbo's emmy-winning "vice on hbo," amazon's “always jane,” and more. as a filmmaker in and outside of the edit room, his work is informed by observational style and experimental form.

oasik horta - associate producer and additional cinematographer

oasik is a filmmaker from trona, ca. while attending high school, he began creating music and writing screenplays. after graduating he moved to los angeles, where he spent a year experiencing what it was like to be homeless and the lifestyle it entails. since then, he has had an interest in documenting reality, exploring interesting characters and the worlds they live in. he currently resides in las vegas, nv pursuing a career in freelance videography and documentary filmmaking.

alana saad - associate producer

alana is a freelance documentary producer currently based in chicago, il. she joined "song of salt” in the fall of 2018 after serendipitously asking emma–her then-boss at tremolo productions–if she was working on any projects outside of the office. as alana began watching through the stunning footage of trona, she immediately fell in love with each and every character and was lucky enough to come on board as associate producer. through caffeine-induced strength, alana is currently working full-time as a production manager on hgtv’s “windy city rehab” and part-time as an associate producer on a documentary series for paramount+.  her recent credits include "mickey: the story of a mouse (2022, associate producer), “roadrunner: a film about anthony bourdain (2021, production coordinator",” and “shangri-la” (2019, production coordinator).

This project was made possible with support from California Humanities,

a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Song of Salt was a proud participant of DocNYC’s Only in New York 2020 program.

Produced in association with the Center for Independent Documentary